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Deining
Een man trekt de sneeuw in om de beer te achtervolgen die de vallei terroriseert, een vader probeert het goed te maken met de zoon die hij verliet, een geliefde wordt te hulp geroepen wanneer de bevalling van een koe vreselijk misgaat, een hevige storm dreigt een boom op de elektriciteitskabels boven het huis van een gezin te blazen – angst, kwetsbaarheid en vastberadenheid komen op Jonesiaanse wijze onder spanning te staan in deze aangrijpende en onvergetelijke verhalen.
Cynan Jones bewijst met Deining opnieuw een van de onverbiddelijkste Britse schrijvers van dit moment te zijn. Maar hoe hardvochtig de elementen in deze uitgepuurde verhalenbundel ook zijn, er is altijd een sprankje hoop aanwezig.
Cynan Jones bewijst met Deining opnieuw een van de onverbiddelijkste Britse schrijvers van dit moment te zijn. Maar hoe hardvochtig de elementen in deze uitgepuurde verhalenbundel ook zijn, er is altijd een sprankje hoop aanwezig.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
192 pages, Paperback
Published January 22, 2026
14 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Cynan Jones
22 books365 followersCynan Jones was born in 1975 near Aberaeron, Wales where he now lives and works.
He is the author of five short novels, The Long Dry, Everything I Found on the Beach, Bird, Blood, Snow, The Dig, and Cove.
He has been longlisted and shortlisted for numerous international prizes and won a Society of Authors Betty Trask Award (2007), a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize (2014), the Wales Book of the Year Fiction Prize (2015) and the BBC National Short Story Award (2017).
His work has been published in more than twenty countries, and short stories have appeared on BBC Radio 4 and in a number of anthologies and publications including Granta Magazine and The New Yorker. He also wrote the screenplay for an episode of the BAFTA-winning crime drama Hinterland, and Three Tales, a collection of stories for children.
The Independent on Sunday declared "There is no doubt that Jones is one of the most talented writers in Britain” and he is frequently
acknowledged as one of the most exciting voices of his generation.
His most recent work, Stillicide, is a collection of twelve stories commissioned by BBC Radio 4 that aired over the summer 2019.
He is also responsible for 'The Fart'.
He is the author of five short novels, The Long Dry, Everything I Found on the Beach, Bird, Blood, Snow, The Dig, and Cove.
He has been longlisted and shortlisted for numerous international prizes and won a Society of Authors Betty Trask Award (2007), a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize (2014), the Wales Book of the Year Fiction Prize (2015) and the BBC National Short Story Award (2017).
His work has been published in more than twenty countries, and short stories have appeared on BBC Radio 4 and in a number of anthologies and publications including Granta Magazine and The New Yorker. He also wrote the screenplay for an episode of the BAFTA-winning crime drama Hinterland, and Three Tales, a collection of stories for children.
The Independent on Sunday declared "There is no doubt that Jones is one of the most talented writers in Britain” and he is frequently
acknowledged as one of the most exciting voices of his generation.
His most recent work, Stillicide, is a collection of twelve stories commissioned by BBC Radio 4 that aired over the summer 2019.
He is also responsible for 'The Fart'.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 21, 2026
I’m a huge fan of Jones’s writing and this is some of his best writing to date.
His trademark spare prose and brutalist dialogue suits these scenarios perfectly. They concern struggling working-class people of small rural Welsh communities (with the exception of Reindeer), their bleak existence interrupted by moments of sublime invention that concern the landscape, or the animals that inhabit it.
His characters, many of them men, are sooner or later made small and beleaguered when faced with the untameable forces of fauna, the climate and other whims of nature.
Peregrine 5 / 5 - Two men attempt a daring night raid on a peregrine’s nest on a cliff face.
Reindeer 5 / 5 - A hunter baits a trap for a dangerous bear in a snowy wilderness. With a twist. In light of the last couple of pages it’s necessary to go back and read it again. Phenomenal.
Cow 5 / 5 - A family farm struggles with illness during lambing at the same time a cow is calving.
Stock 5 / 5 - About a local shop in a rural farming community in Wales. Dark indeed..
White Square 4 / 5 - A father tries to improve the relationship with his young son who he not allowed contact with.
Pulse 5 / 5 - Trees threaten power lines near an isolated cabin in a storm. Jones writes particularly well about storms.
These are dark tales of nature with just the slightest suggestion that something is not as it should be.
From one of our very best modern writers.
His trademark spare prose and brutalist dialogue suits these scenarios perfectly. They concern struggling working-class people of small rural Welsh communities (with the exception of Reindeer), their bleak existence interrupted by moments of sublime invention that concern the landscape, or the animals that inhabit it.
His characters, many of them men, are sooner or later made small and beleaguered when faced with the untameable forces of fauna, the climate and other whims of nature.
Peregrine 5 / 5 - Two men attempt a daring night raid on a peregrine’s nest on a cliff face.
Reindeer 5 / 5 - A hunter baits a trap for a dangerous bear in a snowy wilderness. With a twist. In light of the last couple of pages it’s necessary to go back and read it again. Phenomenal.
Cow 5 / 5 - A family farm struggles with illness during lambing at the same time a cow is calving.
Stock 5 / 5 - About a local shop in a rural farming community in Wales. Dark indeed..
White Square 4 / 5 - A father tries to improve the relationship with his young son who he not allowed contact with.
Pulse 5 / 5 - Trees threaten power lines near an isolated cabin in a storm. Jones writes particularly well about storms.
These are dark tales of nature with just the slightest suggestion that something is not as it should be.
From one of our very best modern writers.
November 7, 2025
Short stories; rural goings on; gory and spare. Cynan Jones is a writer I now adore. This book was a complete surprise (this is why you need to shop in bookshops, people).
December 26, 2025
Dit vond ik erg mooi, met veel plezier gelezen. Één verhaal (stock) pakte mij niet echt, maar de rest vond ik super!
October 12, 2025
Jones is an amazing writer of farm life in all the exciting, tender, gory ways - never read better prose about this topic. For this reason, Cow was the standout story of the collection for me and not the titular Pulse. But be warned that all stories do end up messing with your heart-rate momentarily…
I would have happily read Reindeer as a longer novella! Looking forward to re-reading it during the Christmas break.
I would have happily read Reindeer as a longer novella! Looking forward to re-reading it during the Christmas break.
Read
December 6, 2025I went in hungry for good stories, but there wasn’t much meat on offer — just a lot of bone-chewing in the end.
Read
February 12, 20263,5 *
January 1, 2026
The sparse, staccato style at work here will suit some readers more than others. Jones does succeed in presenting an intriguing, and at times captivating, portrayal of his central concern: our relationship with, (and too often struggle against), nature. The depictions of rural life in Wales are among the strongest elements of the collection, and the undercurrent of discomfort, angst, and occasional gore is often handled with real deftness.
“Cow” stands out as the clear high point for me. Its visceral force is compelling and electric, it left me wishing more of the collection reached the same calibre. Elsewhere, I often found myself frustrated by the extremity of Jones’s minimalism. Promising ideas and subtexts are frequently introduced only to be abandoned, as the narrative shifts without warning and refuses to linger. I wanted more space, more prose, and more time to properly absorb what Jones was gesturing toward.
The result, for me, was a reading experience that could feel abrasive and disjointed, though not without intermittent bursts of energy and inspiration. While this made parts of the book feel like a slow trudge, a more careful or perceptive reader may well derive greater satisfaction from it than I did. I can speak only to my own experience. A worthwhile experiment, but an uneven one. 3.15 stars.
“Cow” stands out as the clear high point for me. Its visceral force is compelling and electric, it left me wishing more of the collection reached the same calibre. Elsewhere, I often found myself frustrated by the extremity of Jones’s minimalism. Promising ideas and subtexts are frequently introduced only to be abandoned, as the narrative shifts without warning and refuses to linger. I wanted more space, more prose, and more time to properly absorb what Jones was gesturing toward.
The result, for me, was a reading experience that could feel abrasive and disjointed, though not without intermittent bursts of energy and inspiration. While this made parts of the book feel like a slow trudge, a more careful or perceptive reader may well derive greater satisfaction from it than I did. I can speak only to my own experience. A worthwhile experiment, but an uneven one. 3.15 stars.
December 25, 2025
The latest stunning work of fiction by this wonderful Welsh writer, six short stories of varying length, but all with a starkness and reality that leaves you on the edge of your seat. Sparse crisp writing, mostly farming/ rural related. Cow, a tale of lambing and a difficult carving is astonishing and surely confirms my belief Jones comes from a farming background.
February 5, 2026
There were a few good stories here. They are very gritty and grim. I particularly enjoyed the off-kilter turn that Reindeer took and the radical Stock where a man is highjacking Grocery delivery vans to feed the local oldies. White Squares was another short story where it led the reader one way, then took an unexpected turn. 3 out of 6 hit for me.
November 15, 2025
I have loved all his previous books. But this collection of short stories was hard work. Not as enjoyable, despite the great writing.
November 29, 2025
Dark rural tales full of regret - well written, just not particularly my cup of tea
December 31, 2025
Onvoldoende verhalen kunnen smaken omdat il een te groot gevecht moest leveren met de Engelse taal. Wellicht in vertaling te herlezen om jet schrijven meer naar waarde te schatten.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews